Valve-gear



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'. M. I. WELGH.

VALVE GEAR.

- No. 404,453. Patented June 4, 1889 .v

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet M. I. WELCH.

VALVE GEAR.

Patented June 4, 1889.

WM 7 m $1 WW4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- MICHAEL I. IVELOH, OF VALDOSTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN JOSEPH MCDONOUGH, OF SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

VALVE-G EAR;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,453, dated June 4, 1889.

Application filed March 16, 1889. Serial No. 303,522. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL I. \VELCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Valdosta, in the county of Lowndes and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve-Gear; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which 1t appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relatesto valve-gear, and has for its object the provision of mechanism for controlling the main valves of locomotives and other engines, of a simple, effective, and novel character, and constitutes what may be termed a non-eccentric valve-gear.

In carrying my invention into practice I dispense entirely with the eccentrics commonly used, and also with the sliding of the link and pin, and provide what I term rocking oscillator-blocks, with peculiar-shaped grooves, in which ride pins carried directly or indirectly by the sliding cross-heads of the engine. The arbors rock or oscillate, and carry rigidly affixed to them the links which swing or oscillate with the said rock shafts or arbors for centers.

The link-pins are carried by connecting rods, which are secured to one crank of doublecranked shafts, to the other crank of which the valve-rods are attached, by suitable connections, to the lever in the cab or other portion of the engine, and the link-pins may be moved to and from the center of the links to give the valves more or less throw, as may be desired. By means of this regulating connection the engine may be reversed. This is done by pushing the regulating-lever inthe proper direction to throw the link-pin below the center of the link, and as soon as the'motion is reversed and the engines begin to move in the opposite direction the lever may be manipulated to bring the pin back into the normal position above the centers of the links, and at such relative height thereto as to give the desired throw to the main valves, and consequent speed to the engine.

The grooves or channels in the rocking oscillator-blocks are made in the form of a figure 8 and pins either fastened directly in the cross-heads or in cheeks attached thereto work back and forth in the grooves and give to the blocks the peculiar rocking motion which they receive. When the checks are employed, the pins may be made adjustably therein by means of a set-screw or other suitable device to accommodate themselves to the height of the blocks, which may vary in different builds and'makes of engines, as the bearings for the arbors of said blocks rest upon the framing of the engine. The traveling pins carried directly or indirectly by the cross-heads may have pointed anti-friction blocks upon them.

The following detailed description more fully explains the nature and function of my said invention and the manner in which I construct and use the same.

The accompanying drawings illustrate what I consider the best means for carrying my invention into practice.

Figure 1. is a side elevation of a portion of a locomotive-engine with my invention applied. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same on line 00 00, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the crosshead rocking oscillator-block. Fig. 5 is a face View of the oscillator-block. Fig. 6 is a face view of a pointed anti-friction block which works in the groove of oscillator-block on the pin connected to the cross-head.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they occur.

A A are the engine-cylinders, and A A the valve-chests above them, with the usual steamports making communication between the two.

B B are the main valves, which are operated and controlled by the mechanism about to be particularly described, the novel features of which constitute the invention of this application.

0 O are the valve-rods, connected at their outer ends to cranks d d of rock-shafts D D,

supported in suitable bearings on the frame of the engine, and which bear cranks (1 cl on their opposite ends, to which the rods D D, which bear the link-pins and blocks (1* (W at their opposite ends, are attached.

E E are the driving-wheels, and E E are main rods driving saidwheels and connected to the cross-heads I? F, which are moved by piston-rods of the engines and held and work in guides G G, in the usual manner. Pins f f, secured directly or indirectly to the cross heads, project inward and lie in grooves 7t h, of peculiar shape, in the sides of rocking oscillator-blocks II II. The grooves are approximately the shape of a figure 8, and the pins as they are carried back and forth with the cross-heads describe the lines of the fig ure in the groove, thus serving to rock and oscillate the blocks. If desired, the pins ff may be secured upon cheeks F E, which are affixed to the inside of the cross-heads and extend above the guide-bars therefor, and the pins carried thereby are made adjustable and set-screws applied above them to adjust them. to the proper height to accommodate the position of the rocking oscillator'blocks, the centers for which are carried in boxes supported on a portion of the frame-work of the engine, which in different makes and builds of engines varies in height. The pins f f may be provided with pointed anti-friction blocks or swiveling heads f f, which guide them in the tortuous grooves 71, and also diminish the friction of their travel. The adjustment of the pins f f serves to take up the wear on the traveler and controls the heads of the valves, and may be manipulated without loss of time.

The blocks II are carried by short shafts, which are supported in the boxes already mentioned, and bear at their opposite ends the links I I, which, being held at their middles by the shafts, are given a swinging or oscillating motion from the center at both ends. The link-pins and blocks (1* (1*, being held in the links, communicate this oscillation to the rods D D and, through the connection already described, to the main valves of both cylinders.

Attached to the rods D D, just back of the pin ends, are standards or arms J J, to which cranks J .I', carried on a shaft L, are pivoted. This shaft is supported in suitable hearin gs on fixed portions of the en gine-f rame and bears a third crank M, to which is attached the reach-rod N, which is connected to the reverse-lever. It is evident therefore that by throwing the reverse-lever in one direction or the other the link-pins and blocks are raised and lowered in the link-slots and the throw of the main valve is regulated, and also by throwing the pins and blocks below the center of the link the engine is reversed, as already described.

Although the drawings show the devices applied to a locomotive or other double-cylinder engine and the description has called for the parts generally in duplicate, it will be understood that the parts may be used without du plication on a single-cylinder engine, and I desire this application to cover both forms of engines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a valve-gear, the combination, with a projection upon the cross-heads, of a rocking oscillator-block having a groove in which the projection works, and a reverse-link connected at its center to the rocleshaft of the block, as set forth.

2. In a valve-gear, the combination, with a pin or projection carried by a sliding crosshead, of a rocking oscillator-block having a groove of approximately the shape of a figure 8, in which the pin or projection moves, a reverse-link, and a link-pin adjustable on the slot in said link, as set forth.

3. In a valve-gear, the combination, with a pin or projection upon a sliding cross-head, said pin being vertically adjustable, of a rocking oscillator-block having a groove, as described, in which the pin or projection works, and a link operated by the block, as set forth.

4. In a valve-gear, the combination of the cross-head, a check F carried thereby, a vertical slot in said check, a pin f carried therein, and a set-screw F*, for adjusting the height of the pin, with a rocking oscillator-block 11 aving a groove in which the pin works, and a link carried and operated by the block, as set forth.

I11 testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL I. \VELCII.

IVitnesses:

I. N. KAL'B, F. '1. F. JOHNSON. 

